Loom harness



April 5 I. J. KAUFMANN 635,6

LOOM HARNESS Filed Jan. 29, 1952 2 SHEE T$SHEET 1 INVENTOR.

JOHN J. KAUFMANN ATTORNEY,

April 21, 1953 J. KALJFMANN LOOM HARNESS 2 SHEETS""SI-IEET 2 Filed Jan.29', 1953 FIG. 5

INVENTOR. JOHN J. KAU FMANN ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 21, 1953 LOOM HARNESS John J. Kaufmann, Elkins Park, Pa.,assignor to Steel Heddle Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application January 29, 1952, Serial No.268,845

8 Claims.

This invention relates to 100m harness and it relates more particularlyto the construction and arrangement of the heddle frames in which theheddles are mounted for shedding the warp when the frames are raised andlowered in the loom.

One of the principal difficulties experienced in connection with theloom harness frames at present in common use is the tendency'of theheddles to bind upon their supporting bars and thus causing warp streaksand other defects in the cloth being woven. 1

Heretofore considerable thought and ingenuity has been expended in anattempt to support the heddle bars intermediate their ends in suchmanher that the heddles will be freely movable on the heddle barsnotwithstanding the distortion which often takes place in the top andbottom rails of the heddle frames either because of the strains imposedthereon, or because of climatic changes which result in bendingand'twisting of the wooden rails employed.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide improvedmeans for supporting the heddle bars intermediate the ends whereby theheddle bars at the top and bottom may be maintained in the requiredparallelism, notwithstanding any temporary or permanent change in shapeof the top and bottom rails of the frame, to the end that the heddlesmay at all times be free to move on the heddle bars and automaticallyadjust themselves to their proper positions during the weavingoperation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a harness frame of thecharacter aforesaid having novel means by which a certain amount ofcushioning of the heddles, and the supporting parts, will occur when theheddle frames reach the upper and lower limits of their travel in theshedding of the warp.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a heddle frame ofthe character aforesaid, improved means for adjusting the parallelism ofthe heddle supporting bars without dismantling the frames or removingthem from the loom.

The nature and characteristic features of the present invention will bemore readily understood from the following description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a loom harness frame embodying the mainfeatures of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view illustrating, on an enlarged scale,the construction and arrangement of an adjusting device of a preferredform for use in the frame;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section thereof taken on the lin 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section, similarly enlarged, taken approximatelyon the line -4 of Fi 1;

I Fig. 5 is a plan view of a part of the inner edge portion of thebottom rail illustrating the arrangement thereon of certain of the partsemployed in harness frames of the presentinvention; and V Fig, 6 is anexploded view, the parts being shown in perspective, of the device shownin Fig. 5 of the drawing which is used for flexibly mounting the slidehook rods employed as part of the harness frame shown in Fig. 1.

It should, of course, b understood that the description and drawingsherein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications andchanges may be made in the structure disclosed without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, in the particular embodiment of the inventiontherein shown, the heddle frame proper is of the conventional typecomprising top and bottom rails l0, customarily made of wood, connectedat their ends by vertical struts ll in which the ends of the heddlesupporting bars [2 are mounted.

The heddles l3 are of the usual fiat steel type provided with centralwarp eyes IA. The heddle supporting bars l2 may be mounted in place byspring locking members l5 which may be of any of the preferred forms atpresent in common use, such for example as the locking members shown anddescribed in my previous application for Letters Patent filed November19, 1948, Serial No. 60,908.

The heddle supporting bars I2 are supported intermediate their ends byslide hooks E6 of any preferred construction such, for example, as areshown in my previous Letters Patent dated November 10, 1942, No.2,301,628.

The slide hooks l6 are slidably mounted on auxiliary supporting rods ll,which'preferably extend from end to end of the frame.

At desired locations in the frame there are provided devices forresiliently supporting the auxiliary rods ll upon which the slide hooksl6 are mounted; Each of said devices comprises a strip of spring steel20 the ends of which are bent at right angles to the main portionthereof to provide ears 2| which in turn have portions 22 bent tohorizontal positions to provide enlarged fiat bearing surfaces for therod Ill. The ears 2! are slotted as at 23 for the passage therethroughof the rods l1.

The central portion of the resilient strip 20 is slotted as at 24, thisslot being preferably formed by first slitting the strip and thenspreading the same to afford a better bearing on the inner edge of therail 0, and also to permit the slot 24 to be of sufficient width for thepassage therethrough of fastening screws 25' without unduly weakeningthe strip at this point.

The screws 25 also pass through the holes 26 in a reinforcing strip orplate 21 superposed over the central slotted portion of the spring strip20.

There is also provided, at desired locations; and

preferably only in the top. rail, one. or more. of. the adjustingdevices shownin detached-detailin Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. Thisdeyiee comprises a screw member 3&- having a shank portion 3 I, cut inthe form ofawoodscrew, which part is mounted in the rail ID. A portion.32 of the member 3| projects inwardly beyond the marginal edge of therail, and this portion ofthe screw is threaded for the mounting thereonof a hand nut 33, and the end of said hand nut 33 has on its innermostface a diametral groove 36 adapted, when proper adjustment of the handnut 33 is made, to provide a recess in which the auxiliary rod I], .uponwhich the slide hooks it are mounted, has its upper marginal edgeportion seated.

In the use of the harness above described, whenever the shedding takesplace, if the strain upon the rails is such as to tend to bend the same,which ordinarily would cause the heddle sup.- porting bars to be pulled.out of parallelism, this is eliminated by the, use of the device of, thepresent invention by reason of the resiliency of the members whichsupport the slide hook rods, upon which are mounted the slide hookswhich in turn support the heddle bars.

Additionally, whenever it is found that the frame has been distorted byreason of a permanent set in the rails, whether this change in shape iscaused by the strains imposed upon the structure in use, or by reason ofclimatic changes which tend to bend or twist the rails and therebydestroy the parallelism of the heddle supporting bars, this can bereadily corrected by a simple adjustment of the hand nut upon theprojecting threaded portion of the screw which is mounted in the rail.

It will be found to be only necessary to adjust the hand nut a shortdistance by tur ing the same in the required direction, the adjustmentbeing against the tension .of the adjacent arms of the resilientsupporting device.

I claim:

1. In a heddle frame for looms comprising top and bottom rails, heddlebars upon which. the heddles are mounted, auxiliary supporting rodsadjacent the heddle bars, and slidable members mounted on the auxiliarysupporting rods for supporting the heddle bars intermediate their ends,resilient means for supporting the auxiliary supporting rods from theinner edges of the rails, and means mounted on at least one of the railsfor imparting pressure against one of the auxiliary rods and therebyadjust the same with respect to the inner edge of the rail against thetension of the resilient supporting means.

2. In a heddle frame for looms comprising top and bottom rails, heddlebars upon which the heddles are mounted, auxiliary supporting rodsadjacent the heddle bars, and slidable members mounted on the auxiliarysupporting rods for supporting the heddle bars intermediate their ends,resilient means for supporting the auxiliary supporting rods from theinner edges of the rails.

3. In a heddle frame for looms comprising top and bottom rails, heddlebars upon which the heddles are mounted, auxiliary supporting rodsadjacent the heddle bars, and slidable members mounted on the auxiliarysupportingrods for supportin the heddle bars intermediate their ends,resilient means for supporting the auxiliary supporting rods from theinner edges of the rails, said supporting means comprising, at variouslocations, a strip of flexible material having means for engaging theauxiliary supporting rods.

4.;Inaheddle. frame for looms comprising top and. bottom rails, heddlebars upon which the heddles are mounted, auxiliary supporting rodsadjacent the heddle bars, and slidable members mounted. on the auxiliarysupporting rods for supporting the heddle bars intermediate their ends,resilient means for supporting the auxiliary supportingrods from theinner edges of the rails, said supporting means comprising, at variouslocations, a strip of flexible material having inwardly projecting earsprovided with slots through which theauxiliarysupporting rods extend.

In a heddle frame for looms comprising top and bottom rails, heddle barsupon which the heddles are mounted, auxiliary supporting adjacent theheddle bars, and slidable members mounted on the auxiliary supportingrods for supporting the heddle bars intermediate their ends, resilientmeans for supporting the auxiliary supporting rods from the inner'edgesof the rails, said supporting means comprising, at various locations, astrip of flexible material having inwardly projecting ears provided withslots through which the auxiliary supporting rods extend, the inner endsof the ears being bent to a horizontal position to provide enlargedbearing surfaces for said rods.

6. In a heddle frame forlooms comprising top and bottom rails, heddlebars upon which the heddles are mounted, auxiliary supporting rodsadjacent the heddle bars, and slidable members mounted on the auxiliarysupporting rods for supporting the heddle bars intermediate their ends,resilient means for supporting the auxiliary supporting rods from theinner'edges of the rails, and means carried by at least one of the railsfor imparting pressure against one of the auxiliary rods, said meanscomprising a member a portion of which is secured to the rail and aninwardly projecting portion, and a part adjustably mounted on theinwardly projecting portion of said member and bearing against theauxiliary rod.

7. In a heddle frame for looms comprising top and bottom rails, heddlebars upon which the heddles are mounted, auxiliary supporting rodsadjacent the heddle bars, and slidable members mounted on the vauxiliarysupporting rods for supporting the heddle bars intermediate their ends,resilient means for supporting the auxiliary supporting rods from theinner edges of the rails, and means carried by .at least one of therails for mparting pressure against one of t e iliary rods, said meanscomprising a member a portion of which is threaded into the rail and aninwardly projecting portion, a hand nut threaded on the inwardlyprojecting portion of said men her and bearing against the auxiliaryrod.

8. In a heddle frame for looms comprising top and bottom rails, heddlebars upon which the heddles are mounted, auxiliary supp rtin r0615adjacent the heddle bars, and slidable members mounted on the auxiliarysupporting rods for supporting the heddle bars intermediate their ends,resilient means for supporting the auxiliary supporting rods from theinner edges of the rails, and means carried by at least one of the railsfor imparting pressure against one of the auxiliary rods, said meanscomprising a member a portion of which is threaded into the rail and aninwardly projecting portion, a hand nut threaded on the inwardlyprojecting portion of said memher and bearing against the auxiliary rod,said nut having a diametral groove on its inner face in which the edgeof the auxiliary rod is seated to lock the hand nut against undesiredmovement.

JOHN J. KAUFMANN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number10 Number

